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Spectral Shadows: Three Supernatural Novellas:
Three supernatural novellas by Robert Westall, hailed as the finest British author of ghost stories since M.R. James, collected together for the first time
BLACKHAM'S WIMPEY
Why should three successive crews flying a Second World War bomber - Blackham's Wimpey - be driven to madness, despair, even death, though the plane returns from each mission without a scratch?
THE WHEATSTONE POND
Too many deaths, too many suicides. It was more than coincidence. The Wheatstone Pond was a killer. When it's drained, antique dealer Jeff Morgan gets interested, hoping there'll be a few valuable wrecks of model boats down there. He isn't prepared for the horror he will find instead...
YAXLEY'S CAT
Sepp Yaxley vanished seven years ago, and no one has seen him since. Rose and her children Tim and Jane thought his vacant cottage, alone by the marshes, seemed like the perfect place for a holiday adventure. But that was before they decided to find out what happened to old Yaxley. Before they started to find strange things in the garden. Before the neighbors began to act weird. Before Yaxley's cat came back...
BLACKHAM'S WIMPEY
Why should three successive crews flying a Second World War bomber - Blackham's Wimpey - be driven to madness, despair, even death, though the plane returns from each mission without a scratch?
THE WHEATSTONE POND
Too many deaths, too many suicides. It was more than coincidence. The Wheatstone Pond was a killer. When it's drained, antique dealer Jeff Morgan gets interested, hoping there'll be a few valuable wrecks of model boats down there. He isn't prepared for the horror he will find instead...
YAXLEY'S CAT
Sepp Yaxley vanished seven years ago, and no one has seen him since. Rose and her children Tim and Jane thought his vacant cottage, alone by the marshes, seemed like the perfect place for a holiday adventure. But that was before they decided to find out what happened to old Yaxley. Before they started to find strange things in the garden. Before the neighbors began to act weird. Before Yaxley's cat came back...
341 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 18, 2016
10 people are currently reading
273 people want to read
About the author
Robert Westall
122 books109 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Robert Westall was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England in 1929.
His first published book The Machine Gunners (1975) which won him the Carnegie Medal is set in World War Two when a group of children living on Tyneside retrieve a machine-gun from a crashed German aircraft. He won the Carnegie Medal again in 1981 for The Scarecrows, the first writer to win it twice. He won the Smarties Prize in 1989 for Blitzcat and the Guardian Award in 1990 for The Kingdom by the Sea. Robert Westall's books have been published in 21 different countries and in 18 different languages, including Braille.
From: http://www.robertwestall.com/
Robert Westall was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England in 1929.
His first published book The Machine Gunners (1975) which won him the Carnegie Medal is set in World War Two when a group of children living on Tyneside retrieve a machine-gun from a crashed German aircraft. He won the Carnegie Medal again in 1981 for The Scarecrows, the first writer to win it twice. He won the Smarties Prize in 1989 for Blitzcat and the Guardian Award in 1990 for The Kingdom by the Sea. Robert Westall's books have been published in 21 different countries and in 18 different languages, including Braille.
From: http://www.robertwestall.com/
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 23, 2025
4 stars
short review for busy readers:
One longer short story and two excellent full novellas from British writer Robert Westall. Miles ahead of his collection Antique Dust: Ghost Stories but still in the same WW2 and antiques trade territory, for the most part. Westall seems to have been much better with longer narratives than shorter ones, as these novellas attest to.
Blackham's Wimpey: 3.5 stars
The Wheatstone Pond: 4.5 stars
Yaxley's Cat: 5 stars
Total: 4.3 stars
in detail:
There is always something just a little too vague for me about the backstory to Westall's ghosts and hauntings. They remain unsatisfactorily shadowy. Half off-screen. Never really fully formed, just lurking in the background, pulling strings. Because of that, the tangible effects of whatever's doing the haunting, the manifestations in the very concrete, fully-realised settings, are often far more frightening than what's behind them. And so it is in these otherwise wonderfully imagined stories, too.
Blackham's Wimpey
Description: Two WW2 RAF bomber crews who don't like each other end up in a dogfight with a German plane. The Wimpey flown by Blackham's crew shoots down the German plane, but both crews can hear the pilot's voice as he burns to death. Not long after, any crew flying Blackham's Wimpey comes off their mission terrified and ends up dead very quickly. Is the Wimpey haunted by the ghost of a vengeful enemy?
(historical note: "Wimpey" was the nickname of the 2-engine Vickers Wellington medium-range bomber.)
Review: If you ever wanted to know what it was like to fly a bombing raid in WW2, look no further than this longish short story. The detail is so vivid, you'll think you're actually on board with the crew.
But that gorgeous vivacity becomes the downfall of the story. The haunting is a stretch and hard to comprehend how it came about. I found myself continuously asking "but HOW did the German pilot make it into the Wimpey?" This one is a very good story about survivor guilt and the shameful treatment of an enemy, but lacking in an essential quality as a ghost tale.
The Wheatstone Pond
Description: a large London pond that attracts suicides is slated for draining and filling. The Toy Museum secures rights to do a dig in the newly exposed pond bottom where they believe antique toy boats might be found. As the water level sinks, a nastiness in the people rises and increasingly disturbing finds are made. The Toy Museum coordinator and a local antiques dealer attempt to investigate and stop the madness.
Review: Extremely good novella that has the feel of a 300 page novel! The characters are perfectly chosen, the dread builds slowly, the setting of a hot London summer fits the lurking evil. We also learn far more than we've ever wanted to know about historic model sailing boats! Loved it!
Only once again -- the very ending where we find out what's behind the evil feels rushed and less than fully formed.
Yaxley's Cat
Description: A London mum needs time away from her husband and their rocky marriage. She takes her two pre-teen kids to the Suffolk coast where they stumble upon an old, seemingly abandoned cottage for rent. Turns out, there's something very not right about that cottage -- and the entire village knows far more about it, and its former occupant, than they should.
Review:
Excellent novella! And a big departure from Westall's normal themes of WW2 memories and antiques, although cats were always a fave with him. The desolate, salty environment, the ancient cottage without electricity or running water, and the backwards, highly superstitious villagers all come together to create a tense uncovering of the past. High octane ending!
One complaint about this one: It's quite annoying to have stupidly ignorant characters in paranormal tales. Poltergeist? Ouija boards? Huh, what's that?? You must mean poultry and skirting boards! (No, fool, we don't, and please remove yourself from this narrative immediately, thank you.)
short review for busy readers:
One longer short story and two excellent full novellas from British writer Robert Westall. Miles ahead of his collection Antique Dust: Ghost Stories but still in the same WW2 and antiques trade territory, for the most part. Westall seems to have been much better with longer narratives than shorter ones, as these novellas attest to.
Blackham's Wimpey: 3.5 stars
The Wheatstone Pond: 4.5 stars
Yaxley's Cat: 5 stars
Total: 4.3 stars
in detail:
There is always something just a little too vague for me about the backstory to Westall's ghosts and hauntings. They remain unsatisfactorily shadowy. Half off-screen. Never really fully formed, just lurking in the background, pulling strings. Because of that, the tangible effects of whatever's doing the haunting, the manifestations in the very concrete, fully-realised settings, are often far more frightening than what's behind them. And so it is in these otherwise wonderfully imagined stories, too.
Blackham's Wimpey
Description: Two WW2 RAF bomber crews who don't like each other end up in a dogfight with a German plane. The Wimpey flown by Blackham's crew shoots down the German plane, but both crews can hear the pilot's voice as he burns to death. Not long after, any crew flying Blackham's Wimpey comes off their mission terrified and ends up dead very quickly. Is the Wimpey haunted by the ghost of a vengeful enemy?
(historical note: "Wimpey" was the nickname of the 2-engine Vickers Wellington medium-range bomber.)
Review: If you ever wanted to know what it was like to fly a bombing raid in WW2, look no further than this longish short story. The detail is so vivid, you'll think you're actually on board with the crew.
But that gorgeous vivacity becomes the downfall of the story. The haunting is a stretch and hard to comprehend how it came about. I found myself continuously asking "but HOW did the German pilot make it into the Wimpey?" This one is a very good story about survivor guilt and the shameful treatment of an enemy, but lacking in an essential quality as a ghost tale.
The Wheatstone Pond
Description: a large London pond that attracts suicides is slated for draining and filling. The Toy Museum secures rights to do a dig in the newly exposed pond bottom where they believe antique toy boats might be found. As the water level sinks, a nastiness in the people rises and increasingly disturbing finds are made. The Toy Museum coordinator and a local antiques dealer attempt to investigate and stop the madness.
Review: Extremely good novella that has the feel of a 300 page novel! The characters are perfectly chosen, the dread builds slowly, the setting of a hot London summer fits the lurking evil. We also learn far more than we've ever wanted to know about historic model sailing boats! Loved it!
Only once again -- the very ending where we find out what's behind the evil feels rushed and less than fully formed.
Yaxley's Cat
Description: A London mum needs time away from her husband and their rocky marriage. She takes her two pre-teen kids to the Suffolk coast where they stumble upon an old, seemingly abandoned cottage for rent. Turns out, there's something very not right about that cottage -- and the entire village knows far more about it, and its former occupant, than they should.
Review:
Excellent novella! And a big departure from Westall's normal themes of WW2 memories and antiques, although cats were always a fave with him. The desolate, salty environment, the ancient cottage without electricity or running water, and the backwards, highly superstitious villagers all come together to create a tense uncovering of the past. High octane ending!
One complaint about this one: It's quite annoying to have stupidly ignorant characters in paranormal tales. Poltergeist? Ouija boards? Huh, what's that?? You must mean poultry and skirting boards! (No, fool, we don't, and please remove yourself from this narrative immediately, thank you.)
July 19, 2016
Spectral Shadows is a collection of three novellas written by Robert Westall. This is my third story collection from Westall and I've loved them all.
Blackham's Wimpy is the story of a haunted plane. There's lots of English slang, but it's easy to glean the meanings from the surrounding text. Now that I've read this masterfully told story, I wonder why no one else has thought or wrote about a haunted warplane before? Perhaps it's not really as easy as Westall makes it look, but it's one helluva story!
The Wheatstone Pond-is a nifty tale, returning to the framing device of a mature antique dealer, a technique Westall used in Antique Dust: Ghost Stories. It worked for me then, and it worked for me now. Also, it's just interesting to think about the history of things only recently unearthed, (or in this case unwatered?) Who did they belong to and how did they get there? Sometimes, curiosity kills the cat.
Speaking of which, Yaxley's Cat is the last story here, and even though I didn't care much for the main character, this one was my favorite of the bunch. I'm a sucker for evil in a small town stories and this one certainly fits the bill. An abandoned home in a small village becomes the vacation destination of a young married woman, her son and daughter. Even though there's no electricity, her children beg her to stay and stay they do. I can't say much more without spoiling things, but I thought this tale was fun, even if a bit predictable.
Robert Westall is an author I would have never discovered without the aid of Valancourt Books. He was a treasure that I somehow missed and I'm glad he was finally brought to my attention. His stories are usually genuinely creepy and family friendly. I like that and find it refreshing.
I highly recommend this collection of novellas and if you decide to give it a try, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
*A free e-copy of this book was provided by Valancourt Books in exchange for my honest review. This is it!*
Blackham's Wimpy is the story of a haunted plane. There's lots of English slang, but it's easy to glean the meanings from the surrounding text. Now that I've read this masterfully told story, I wonder why no one else has thought or wrote about a haunted warplane before? Perhaps it's not really as easy as Westall makes it look, but it's one helluva story!
The Wheatstone Pond-is a nifty tale, returning to the framing device of a mature antique dealer, a technique Westall used in Antique Dust: Ghost Stories. It worked for me then, and it worked for me now. Also, it's just interesting to think about the history of things only recently unearthed, (or in this case unwatered?) Who did they belong to and how did they get there? Sometimes, curiosity kills the cat.
Speaking of which, Yaxley's Cat is the last story here, and even though I didn't care much for the main character, this one was my favorite of the bunch. I'm a sucker for evil in a small town stories and this one certainly fits the bill. An abandoned home in a small village becomes the vacation destination of a young married woman, her son and daughter. Even though there's no electricity, her children beg her to stay and stay they do. I can't say much more without spoiling things, but I thought this tale was fun, even if a bit predictable.
Robert Westall is an author I would have never discovered without the aid of Valancourt Books. He was a treasure that I somehow missed and I'm glad he was finally brought to my attention. His stories are usually genuinely creepy and family friendly. I like that and find it refreshing.
I highly recommend this collection of novellas and if you decide to give it a try, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
*A free e-copy of this book was provided by Valancourt Books in exchange for my honest review. This is it!*
September 2, 2016
4.5 *
SPECTRAL SHADOWS--Three Supernatural Novellas, by Robert Westall, consists of the tales: "Blackham's Wimpey", "The Wheatstone Pond", and "Yaxley's Cat". I only recently discovered Westall's stories when Valancourt Books brought them back into print/kindle. His style is reminiscent of M.R. James, or Algernon Blackwood, in my humble opinion.
The first novella, "Blackham's Wimpey" is my overall favorite, although all three were stories I would definitely re-read. This story takes us back to WWII where small planes known as "Wimpeys" were used to attack the German fighters. One arrogant captain and his team fly their Wimpey--the S-Sugar--and fatally hit a German Junker 88, flown by a man named Dieter Gehlen. Keeping their intercom on, they hear the agony of his death throes, as he slowly burns to death in his plane--dying, yet still trying to fight, for his country.
Westall's description of the claustrophobic Wimpeys, the danger inherent in each run, and the closeness/loyalty each of the men have for their teammates--due to the fact that their lives rely on each member doing his job--creates a mentally haunting image even before the death of Gehlen. The overconfident Blackham goes so far as to mock the German soldier as he's screaming in agony while parts of his body burn up. An older and far wiser Captain flying above them--Dadda--comments simply afterwards: "They shouldn't have laughed at him."
This story hit on every mental fear that it could as I envisioned the teams flying above on their missions--each soldier doing their best for their respective countries. Eventually, a form of psychological torture of the mind caused one man to remark, ". . . for the first time, I wished to be dead . . . I'd settle for lovely, black-velvety nothing. Not see, not feel, not think . . ."
". . . Dieter Gehler . . . he was deadlier in Blackham's Wimpey than he ever had been in a Junkers 88 . . ."
While this was the shortest novella of the three, I honestly felt it the most "haunting" as the mental, physical, and psychological details were all consuming at every turn.
"The Wheatstone Pond", the second novella, had a very direct, poignant atmosphere permeated by the stench of decay and rot. An old pond--one that has attracted a multitude of suicides and murders alike--is being drained in order that it may be filled in and covered up for good. The noxious smell is an "evil" one, that saturates the very soul of any that come in close contact to it. Jeff Morgan, an antique dealer that works nearby, is excited by the prospect of what treasures may be unearthed by the sludge, as the fetid water is slowly drained from the pit. His honest passion for antiques is voiced early on: ". . . what stories they could tell, if only they could speak . . . why I went into antiques in the first place--the romance of it . . ."
His help is enlisted by Hermione, the head of a museum. She is looking to find toy antique exhibits for her business, and in return for Jeff's help in cleaning the finds, anything of value that doesn't fit the museum's theme will go to him.
Only some of the things they discover were never meant to be unearthed . . .
Westall does an amazing job at keeping the wretched atmosphere continuously building, as he delves into the lives of these two key characters. The slowly dawning realization of what they now have to contend with, almost comes by "naturally"--such is the power of Westall's tale.
"Yaxley's Cat", is the final novella in this collection. This story carried with it an almost Lovecraftian overtone as Rose, an unhappy wife and mother, decides to take her two children on an "unexpected" vacation--yearning to be free of her husband's influence. Her drive takes them to a small town, inhabited by people of a very close-mouthed town--immediately resentful of any out-of-towners. Rose's children, Timothy and Jane, are quick to pick up on their mother's true motives, and manage to convince her to rent an old cottage, shunned by most of the town.
". . . why do we pretend our children don't notice things . . . why do we comfort ourselves by pretending they're stupid? . . ."
Despite the ominous feel of this place from the very beginning, Rose foolishly decides to stay there.
Many small towns have their private histories. And the inhabitants do not take kindly to intruders digging around for those secrets . . .
While this novella carried a palpable ominous foreboding throughout, I felt that Westall could have done a better job with Rose's characterization. Her children--and Yaxley's cat--were the true stars of this tale.
Overall, another fantastic collection of Westall's supernatural tales that I am sure I will be revisiting in the future.
Highly recommended!
SPECTRAL SHADOWS--Three Supernatural Novellas, by Robert Westall, consists of the tales: "Blackham's Wimpey", "The Wheatstone Pond", and "Yaxley's Cat". I only recently discovered Westall's stories when Valancourt Books brought them back into print/kindle. His style is reminiscent of M.R. James, or Algernon Blackwood, in my humble opinion.
The first novella, "Blackham's Wimpey" is my overall favorite, although all three were stories I would definitely re-read. This story takes us back to WWII where small planes known as "Wimpeys" were used to attack the German fighters. One arrogant captain and his team fly their Wimpey--the S-Sugar--and fatally hit a German Junker 88, flown by a man named Dieter Gehlen. Keeping their intercom on, they hear the agony of his death throes, as he slowly burns to death in his plane--dying, yet still trying to fight, for his country.
Westall's description of the claustrophobic Wimpeys, the danger inherent in each run, and the closeness/loyalty each of the men have for their teammates--due to the fact that their lives rely on each member doing his job--creates a mentally haunting image even before the death of Gehlen. The overconfident Blackham goes so far as to mock the German soldier as he's screaming in agony while parts of his body burn up. An older and far wiser Captain flying above them--Dadda--comments simply afterwards: "They shouldn't have laughed at him."
This story hit on every mental fear that it could as I envisioned the teams flying above on their missions--each soldier doing their best for their respective countries. Eventually, a form of psychological torture of the mind caused one man to remark, ". . . for the first time, I wished to be dead . . . I'd settle for lovely, black-velvety nothing. Not see, not feel, not think . . ."
". . . Dieter Gehler . . . he was deadlier in Blackham's Wimpey than he ever had been in a Junkers 88 . . ."
While this was the shortest novella of the three, I honestly felt it the most "haunting" as the mental, physical, and psychological details were all consuming at every turn.
"The Wheatstone Pond", the second novella, had a very direct, poignant atmosphere permeated by the stench of decay and rot. An old pond--one that has attracted a multitude of suicides and murders alike--is being drained in order that it may be filled in and covered up for good. The noxious smell is an "evil" one, that saturates the very soul of any that come in close contact to it. Jeff Morgan, an antique dealer that works nearby, is excited by the prospect of what treasures may be unearthed by the sludge, as the fetid water is slowly drained from the pit. His honest passion for antiques is voiced early on: ". . . what stories they could tell, if only they could speak . . . why I went into antiques in the first place--the romance of it . . ."
His help is enlisted by Hermione, the head of a museum. She is looking to find toy antique exhibits for her business, and in return for Jeff's help in cleaning the finds, anything of value that doesn't fit the museum's theme will go to him.
Only some of the things they discover were never meant to be unearthed . . .
Westall does an amazing job at keeping the wretched atmosphere continuously building, as he delves into the lives of these two key characters. The slowly dawning realization of what they now have to contend with, almost comes by "naturally"--such is the power of Westall's tale.
"Yaxley's Cat", is the final novella in this collection. This story carried with it an almost Lovecraftian overtone as Rose, an unhappy wife and mother, decides to take her two children on an "unexpected" vacation--yearning to be free of her husband's influence. Her drive takes them to a small town, inhabited by people of a very close-mouthed town--immediately resentful of any out-of-towners. Rose's children, Timothy and Jane, are quick to pick up on their mother's true motives, and manage to convince her to rent an old cottage, shunned by most of the town.
". . . why do we pretend our children don't notice things . . . why do we comfort ourselves by pretending they're stupid? . . ."
Despite the ominous feel of this place from the very beginning, Rose foolishly decides to stay there.
Many small towns have their private histories. And the inhabitants do not take kindly to intruders digging around for those secrets . . .
While this novella carried a palpable ominous foreboding throughout, I felt that Westall could have done a better job with Rose's characterization. Her children--and Yaxley's cat--were the true stars of this tale.
Overall, another fantastic collection of Westall's supernatural tales that I am sure I will be revisiting in the future.
Highly recommended!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2016
If it had not been for discovering Valancourt books or discussions with my good friends on goodreads I would never have heard the name Robert Westhall and indeed his contribution to tales of the ghostly and supernatural. Spectral Shadows is a compilation of three short stories previously published as individual works. If you are a reader who prefers your horror to be bloody and visceral then these stories may not appeal , but if you are a discerning reader who enjoys intelligent well crafted tales with an underlying horror that slowly, unexpectedly and expertly reveals itself...then you will enjoy the delicious little gems within the pages of Spectral Shadows.
"Blackham's Wimpey" is the story of a second world war bomber, its crew, and the supernatural forces prevalent within the claustrophobic surroundings of the bomber's interior. So many of Westhall's writings, and in particular the 40 or so books that he published for young readers, drew for influence and ideas on his boyhood adventures during the war. This story in particular creates a picture of the constant dangers that being part of a bomber crew involved and the overwhelming camaraderie that existed between the crew..."We found out that Matt had been the top pilot of his course, and Kit top navigator. Mad Paul, the front-gunner, and Billy the Kid were top stuff, too; reaction times like greased lightning." I found myself fascinated and intrigued by the constant dangers that these young men endured and accepted as part of everyday routine..."Suddenly, light-flak tracer is Morse-coding past the windows. And then rods of pure white light, leaking in through every chink in the fabric. We're caught in a searchlight. Then a throbbing through the Wimpey's frame; a light, rhythmic throbbing; our front guns firing." What happens when the crew is given a change of aircraft, a bomber that is seemingly indestructible but contains a deadly secret that will affect all those who come into contact with it?
In "The Wheatstone Pond" Jeff Morgan as an antique dealer is interested when he learns that the pond is to be drained. It is a locality with a dangerous reputation and rumoured to be accountable for the disappearance of a number of residents. The local council must be seen to take action and therefore the Wheatstone Pond must be made safe by drainage and filling to ensure that no one ever again disappears below its murky surface. As the drainage proceeds a number of valuable model ships are revealed under the muddy deluge, one in particular containing three small, and possibly human skeletons. It is nice to mention that the author, at a period in his life, had been an antique dealer and no doubt this story pays homage to that profession. A number of interesting characters pervade this excellent and colourful tale; Hermione Studdart, beautiful partner in crime to Jeff Morgan; J Montague Wheeler entrepreneur, responsible for the creation of the model ships; Mossy Hughes the loveable cockney always at hand to buy you a drink in the Duke of Portland..."I decided to drop in to the Duke of Portland. It was always rather nice and quiet, before the pre-lunch mob dropped in. I'd buy an observer on the way and...Mossy Hughes saw me the moment I poked my head round the swing-door. "Mr Morgan. What you havin? Guinness Bitter, innit? He smiled, pleased with himself for remembering. Fetched the two pints to a sunlit corner-table. Can't beat Sunday, can you, Mr Morgan? Day o'rest. Good enough for Gawd, good enough for me, is what I say."
Yaxley's Cat is the final story in the trilogy and is a mix of Thomas Tyron's Harvest Home and the classic horror movie The Wicker Man. Rose, together with her two children Timothy and Jane, has escaped from her controlling husband Philip for a holiday in Norfolk around the community of Cley-next-the-Sea. As they stroll along the salt marshes they discover an old ,and seemingly unoccupied house....."The house was very Norfolk; flint and dull red brick, except where storms had nibbled the corners, leaving patches or raw bright orange. Gable on the right, two dormer-windows in the roof on the left; all covered with massive red pantiles that made the roof sag." The family decide to rent the house for a short period but what they discover within its walls has a devastating effect not only on them but on the rather odd and intimidating local people. This is horror writing of the finest; unsuspecting outsiders attempting to settle in rural communities with their questionable morals and sexual proclivities. Once again there is some excellent characterization; we meet the beautifully named Nathan Gotobed...."Mr. Gotobed did look exactly like a dog. A blunt-faced jowly sort of dog, with streaks of silver in his black hair, a farmer's three-day growth of whiskers on his face, and his spectacles mended with black adhesive tape." The original owner of the cottage Sepp Yaxley disappeared some 7 years ago, his discovery will prove most unexpected, however his cat is still in residence and refuses to leave. Will the local people learn to accept Rose and her family or will she always be viewed as..."A rich bitch and her two overprivileged brats..."
I received a gratis copy of this wonderful book from the good people at Valancourt in exchange for an honest review, and that is what I have written. Great praise must go to Valancourt Books who are rediscovering and reprinting rare, neglected and out-of-print fiction.
"Blackham's Wimpey" is the story of a second world war bomber, its crew, and the supernatural forces prevalent within the claustrophobic surroundings of the bomber's interior. So many of Westhall's writings, and in particular the 40 or so books that he published for young readers, drew for influence and ideas on his boyhood adventures during the war. This story in particular creates a picture of the constant dangers that being part of a bomber crew involved and the overwhelming camaraderie that existed between the crew..."We found out that Matt had been the top pilot of his course, and Kit top navigator. Mad Paul, the front-gunner, and Billy the Kid were top stuff, too; reaction times like greased lightning." I found myself fascinated and intrigued by the constant dangers that these young men endured and accepted as part of everyday routine..."Suddenly, light-flak tracer is Morse-coding past the windows. And then rods of pure white light, leaking in through every chink in the fabric. We're caught in a searchlight. Then a throbbing through the Wimpey's frame; a light, rhythmic throbbing; our front guns firing." What happens when the crew is given a change of aircraft, a bomber that is seemingly indestructible but contains a deadly secret that will affect all those who come into contact with it?
In "The Wheatstone Pond" Jeff Morgan as an antique dealer is interested when he learns that the pond is to be drained. It is a locality with a dangerous reputation and rumoured to be accountable for the disappearance of a number of residents. The local council must be seen to take action and therefore the Wheatstone Pond must be made safe by drainage and filling to ensure that no one ever again disappears below its murky surface. As the drainage proceeds a number of valuable model ships are revealed under the muddy deluge, one in particular containing three small, and possibly human skeletons. It is nice to mention that the author, at a period in his life, had been an antique dealer and no doubt this story pays homage to that profession. A number of interesting characters pervade this excellent and colourful tale; Hermione Studdart, beautiful partner in crime to Jeff Morgan; J Montague Wheeler entrepreneur, responsible for the creation of the model ships; Mossy Hughes the loveable cockney always at hand to buy you a drink in the Duke of Portland..."I decided to drop in to the Duke of Portland. It was always rather nice and quiet, before the pre-lunch mob dropped in. I'd buy an observer on the way and...Mossy Hughes saw me the moment I poked my head round the swing-door. "Mr Morgan. What you havin? Guinness Bitter, innit? He smiled, pleased with himself for remembering. Fetched the two pints to a sunlit corner-table. Can't beat Sunday, can you, Mr Morgan? Day o'rest. Good enough for Gawd, good enough for me, is what I say."
Yaxley's Cat is the final story in the trilogy and is a mix of Thomas Tyron's Harvest Home and the classic horror movie The Wicker Man. Rose, together with her two children Timothy and Jane, has escaped from her controlling husband Philip for a holiday in Norfolk around the community of Cley-next-the-Sea. As they stroll along the salt marshes they discover an old ,and seemingly unoccupied house....."The house was very Norfolk; flint and dull red brick, except where storms had nibbled the corners, leaving patches or raw bright orange. Gable on the right, two dormer-windows in the roof on the left; all covered with massive red pantiles that made the roof sag." The family decide to rent the house for a short period but what they discover within its walls has a devastating effect not only on them but on the rather odd and intimidating local people. This is horror writing of the finest; unsuspecting outsiders attempting to settle in rural communities with their questionable morals and sexual proclivities. Once again there is some excellent characterization; we meet the beautifully named Nathan Gotobed...."Mr. Gotobed did look exactly like a dog. A blunt-faced jowly sort of dog, with streaks of silver in his black hair, a farmer's three-day growth of whiskers on his face, and his spectacles mended with black adhesive tape." The original owner of the cottage Sepp Yaxley disappeared some 7 years ago, his discovery will prove most unexpected, however his cat is still in residence and refuses to leave. Will the local people learn to accept Rose and her family or will she always be viewed as..."A rich bitch and her two overprivileged brats..."
I received a gratis copy of this wonderful book from the good people at Valancourt in exchange for an honest review, and that is what I have written. Great praise must go to Valancourt Books who are rediscovering and reprinting rare, neglected and out-of-print fiction.
September 1, 2020
3 stars--I liked the book. I firmly believe that Westall is an underrated horror writer. His traditional English stories are frightening and well crafted. This book contains 3 novellas; I enjoyed them all, and they were quick reads.
BLACKHAM’S WIMPEY: A tale about a haunted WWII fighter plane--horrific but with a good sense of justice.
THE WHEATSTONE POND: In this story, a summoned evil seeps into a village, affecting everything, including its pond. Unique.
YAXLEY’S CAT: I quite liked the folk-horror elements of this story (creepy, secluded English villagers doing creepy things is my jam). However, I wished for a different ending.
BLACKHAM’S WIMPEY: A tale about a haunted WWII fighter plane--horrific but with a good sense of justice.
THE WHEATSTONE POND: In this story, a summoned evil seeps into a village, affecting everything, including its pond. Unique.
YAXLEY’S CAT: I quite liked the folk-horror elements of this story (creepy, secluded English villagers doing creepy things is my jam). However, I wished for a different ending.
May 20, 2022
Oh man, I really enjoyed this set of three novellas by Robert Westall. The first, shortest, yet best tale was Blackham's Wimpey, about a WWII bomber crew that encounters...something on their flight, yet they emerge unharmed. Westall sets a stunning scene within the Wimpey (slang for bomber), as we get used to the constant fear, tension, stress, and insanity that a bomber flight crew must have put up with during the best of times. However, after an encounter with a German pilot, one plane, Blackham's Wimpey drives each successive crew to madness and despair. The bomber is such a great setting, that I'm surprised it hasn't been used as often as a horror backdrop (outside of that segment from Heavy Metal)
The Wheatsone Pond is the next tale, about an antique dealer who finds some valuables in the eponymous pond. However, since that pond is also tied to a slate of murders and suicides, the authorities decide to drain it. Yet as it drains, something evil is acting upon the citizens of the Wheatstone neighborhood. This one, was sadly a bit less focused and the evil not as well defined in the other tales. Yet, the writing made the story utterly compelling, and I just had to know the secrets by the end.
The book ends on a strong suit with Yaxley's Cat, where a mother, and her two kids escape for a holiday in the abandoned house of one Sepp Yaxley, the local eccentric of a small village. Soon, neighbors start acting strange around the family, a weird cat starts hanging around the place, and the mother, Rose starts getting a strong sense of foreboding. Luckily, her kids are pretty resourceful, and great to have around once trouble starts. This one started slowly, but then rocketed off by the end. It has its roots in everything from Straw Dogs, to folk horror, and there's a nice twist about the nature of cruelty in it.
Again, I couldn't recommend this enough, as it was a blast, and I'm looking forward to more books by Westall!
The Wheatsone Pond is the next tale, about an antique dealer who finds some valuables in the eponymous pond. However, since that pond is also tied to a slate of murders and suicides, the authorities decide to drain it. Yet as it drains, something evil is acting upon the citizens of the Wheatstone neighborhood. This one, was sadly a bit less focused and the evil not as well defined in the other tales. Yet, the writing made the story utterly compelling, and I just had to know the secrets by the end.
The book ends on a strong suit with Yaxley's Cat, where a mother, and her two kids escape for a holiday in the abandoned house of one Sepp Yaxley, the local eccentric of a small village. Soon, neighbors start acting strange around the family, a weird cat starts hanging around the place, and the mother, Rose starts getting a strong sense of foreboding. Luckily, her kids are pretty resourceful, and great to have around once trouble starts. This one started slowly, but then rocketed off by the end. It has its roots in everything from Straw Dogs, to folk horror, and there's a nice twist about the nature of cruelty in it.
Again, I couldn't recommend this enough, as it was a blast, and I'm looking forward to more books by Westall!
April 3, 2024
The first story has so much WWII / British slang that I didn’t know what was going on half the time.
SPOILER: The second story… who in their right mind would make a deal with the devil to become small enough to drive a toy boat?!? Why did we need to learn about every God forsaken toy boat that was found in the river?
Third story: The cat was hardly in it and most definitely wasn’t green with glowing red eyes. Ignorant country folk vs. rich city people. Kind of over done.
This book read like a not-very-good 80’s tv “horror” anthology.
SPOILER: The second story… who in their right mind would make a deal with the devil to become small enough to drive a toy boat?!? Why did we need to learn about every God forsaken toy boat that was found in the river?
Third story: The cat was hardly in it and most definitely wasn’t green with glowing red eyes. Ignorant country folk vs. rich city people. Kind of over done.
This book read like a not-very-good 80’s tv “horror” anthology.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2016
"Spectral Shadows" is a collection of three novellas by Robert Westall. Each novella is a tale of horror: basic, primitive, overwhelming horror.
This isn't the fear of werewolves and vampires- humans in another skin - but the deep, involuntary dread of the dangerously wrong that raises the small hairs on your neck, causes your body to tremble and changes the way in which you see the world and your place in it.
"Blackham's Wimpey" published in 1982, starts the anthology. It's the slightest of the three tales but still compelling. It is a first person account by the young, barely out of his teens, Radio Operator of a World War II Wellington bomber (the Wimpey of the title) of an extraordinary haunting of and RAF plane.
What I liked about this story was that, in the process of creating a plausible and chilling haunting, Robert Westall also gave a vivid insight into the life of a bomber crew, flying a slow, cloth-skinned plane over German guns night after night in the freezing dark. Hearing the brittle, superstition-boosted bravado with which the young radio operator faced his daily opportunity to die was sad. Understanding that what happened in Blackham's Wimpey scared him much more than flying over Germany was chilling.
"The Wheatstone Pond", published in 1993 is the second novella. This time the first person account comes from a confident, self-aware, North London antiques dealer in his thirties who makes his living tarting up clocks and bits of furniture and selling them on, much improved, but not quite as antique as the buyer believes them to be.He is a man already balancing his genuine love for old things with his instinct for doing what it takes to turn a profit.
Against his better judgement, he allows himself to become involved in retrieving objects long-buried in the black slime at the bottom of the Wheatstone Pond in a nearby Park, which is being drained and filled in because of its notoriety as a suicide spot. The pond, once a proud feature of the Park, used by the rich to sail their model boats, has now fallen into decay and reaks, not just of foul mud at its base but of the despair of all who have dies there.
I was fascinated by Robert Westall's ability to make a pond a source of horror. Bit by bit, this sensible, grounded man sinks into the horror of the pond's true nature and exposure to it starts to change him. By the end of the tale, he and we have travelled deeply into a fantastic but completely credible evil from which there seems to be no escape.
"Yaxley's Cat", published in 1991, is the final novella and perhaps the best. This time the story is told in the close third-person but the intimacy is just as intense as with the first-person novellas.
Rose, thirty-something mother of two scarily competent children just entering their teens, is trying to find her way out from under the dominant influence of her austere and often absent husband. During a holiday with her son and daughter that her husband has arranged but is not taking part in, Rose gives way to impulse and rents a remote, broken-down cottage, with no electricity and and no indoor sanitation, so that she and her children can have an adventure.
Rose is not entirely welcome in the local village, where she is seen as a Yuppie outsider but as she starts to explore the cottage and to understand what happened to the old man who lived there until he disappeared seven years earlier, the village becomes hostile and Rose finds herself and her children under threat.
Robert Westall builds the suspense with great skill, weaving local myths and superstitions with a kind, liberal-minded woman's inability to recognise evil when she meets it.
As her isolation grows and the sense of threat escalates, Robert Westall amplifies the unease by making Rose's thirteen year old son into a young patrician warrior who, raised on war movies and expert with the airgun his father gifted him, is ready to deal fatally with the peasants at the door. This seemed very credible and very disturbing.
Throughout it all, Rose remains her kind-hearted but ineffectual self, raising interesting questions about whether evil should be met with mercy or lead pellet form an airgun.
Robert Westall is best known as a writer of books for children (when he was writing, the term "Young Adult" had yet to be marketed), for which he won the Carnegie Medal twice. His horror stories have not seen the light of day for some time but this year, Valencourt Books, who are bringing out of print genre classics back to life, brought these three novellas together in "Spectral Shadows" for the first time.
I will be going back for more of Rober Westall and more revivals from Valencourt Books.
I found this remarkable anthology thanks to a review on "Char's Horror Corner" Take a look at her other horror recommendations.
This isn't the fear of werewolves and vampires- humans in another skin - but the deep, involuntary dread of the dangerously wrong that raises the small hairs on your neck, causes your body to tremble and changes the way in which you see the world and your place in it.
"Blackham's Wimpey" published in 1982, starts the anthology. It's the slightest of the three tales but still compelling. It is a first person account by the young, barely out of his teens, Radio Operator of a World War II Wellington bomber (the Wimpey of the title) of an extraordinary haunting of and RAF plane.
What I liked about this story was that, in the process of creating a plausible and chilling haunting, Robert Westall also gave a vivid insight into the life of a bomber crew, flying a slow, cloth-skinned plane over German guns night after night in the freezing dark. Hearing the brittle, superstition-boosted bravado with which the young radio operator faced his daily opportunity to die was sad. Understanding that what happened in Blackham's Wimpey scared him much more than flying over Germany was chilling.
"The Wheatstone Pond", published in 1993 is the second novella. This time the first person account comes from a confident, self-aware, North London antiques dealer in his thirties who makes his living tarting up clocks and bits of furniture and selling them on, much improved, but not quite as antique as the buyer believes them to be.He is a man already balancing his genuine love for old things with his instinct for doing what it takes to turn a profit.
Against his better judgement, he allows himself to become involved in retrieving objects long-buried in the black slime at the bottom of the Wheatstone Pond in a nearby Park, which is being drained and filled in because of its notoriety as a suicide spot. The pond, once a proud feature of the Park, used by the rich to sail their model boats, has now fallen into decay and reaks, not just of foul mud at its base but of the despair of all who have dies there.
I was fascinated by Robert Westall's ability to make a pond a source of horror. Bit by bit, this sensible, grounded man sinks into the horror of the pond's true nature and exposure to it starts to change him. By the end of the tale, he and we have travelled deeply into a fantastic but completely credible evil from which there seems to be no escape.
"Yaxley's Cat", published in 1991, is the final novella and perhaps the best. This time the story is told in the close third-person but the intimacy is just as intense as with the first-person novellas.
Rose, thirty-something mother of two scarily competent children just entering their teens, is trying to find her way out from under the dominant influence of her austere and often absent husband. During a holiday with her son and daughter that her husband has arranged but is not taking part in, Rose gives way to impulse and rents a remote, broken-down cottage, with no electricity and and no indoor sanitation, so that she and her children can have an adventure.
Rose is not entirely welcome in the local village, where she is seen as a Yuppie outsider but as she starts to explore the cottage and to understand what happened to the old man who lived there until he disappeared seven years earlier, the village becomes hostile and Rose finds herself and her children under threat.
Robert Westall builds the suspense with great skill, weaving local myths and superstitions with a kind, liberal-minded woman's inability to recognise evil when she meets it.
As her isolation grows and the sense of threat escalates, Robert Westall amplifies the unease by making Rose's thirteen year old son into a young patrician warrior who, raised on war movies and expert with the airgun his father gifted him, is ready to deal fatally with the peasants at the door. This seemed very credible and very disturbing.
Throughout it all, Rose remains her kind-hearted but ineffectual self, raising interesting questions about whether evil should be met with mercy or lead pellet form an airgun.
Robert Westall is best known as a writer of books for children (when he was writing, the term "Young Adult" had yet to be marketed), for which he won the Carnegie Medal twice. His horror stories have not seen the light of day for some time but this year, Valencourt Books, who are bringing out of print genre classics back to life, brought these three novellas together in "Spectral Shadows" for the first time.
I will be going back for more of Rober Westall and more revivals from Valencourt Books.
I found this remarkable anthology thanks to a review on "Char's Horror Corner" Take a look at her other horror recommendations.
December 20, 2016
Robert Westall writes a good English supernatural yarn in the British tradition I associate with MR. James. The stories are not exactly ghost stories, but in that general direction. This book has three novellas each showing a different setting for his writing. The first novella Blackham's Whimpey is set in WWII. The Wheatstone Pond involves one of his favorite characters, an antiquarian, who owns an antique shop and runs into curious supernatural situations because of the nature of his business. The last novella, Yaxley's Cat, is about country village life and "Cunning Men".
If you appreciate good British writing (that is, about the people and custom of the English), supernatural stories, and well thought out plots you are in for a treat in reading Westall. The current book is a treat.
If you appreciate good British writing (that is, about the people and custom of the English), supernatural stories, and well thought out plots you are in for a treat in reading Westall. The current book is a treat.
March 2, 2021
This collection opens with the wonderfully evocative and convincing 'Blackham's Wimpey'. Imagine a ghost story with the depth of historical detail you'd find in Len Deighton and the creepiness of M.R. James - Westall excels in imbuing everyday objects with what James called, 'the malice of inanimate objects'. It's a brilliantly effective piece, managing to offer an original supernatural menace but also leaving us in no doubt how terrifying it was to fly a flimsy bomber over Germany even when its radio set wasn't possessed by the spirit of a German night-fighter pilot. 5 stars for this one.
'The Wheatstone Pond' is more in the mould of the tales in Westall's 'Antique Dust'. It lurches into James Herbert territory in the final quarter (think 'The Dark') and doesn't make the most of its implications, but before then it gives an impressive sense of louring evil and, in the discovery of the model boat with the three tiny skeletons in it, something splendidly horrible. 3.5 stars for this one.
'Yaxley's Cat' is a folk-horror tale which puts a London mum and her two scarily assured children into a 'holiday cottage' that belonged to a cunning man who seems to have disappeared without trace. When the wizard's feline familiar turns up, everything starts to get nasty in a 'Straw Dogs' sort of way, with menacing villagers a-plenty and a posse of sinister old men armed with billhooks. This one is very well paced, has keenly observed local detail (it's set in Cley on the Norfolk coast) and builds to an effective climax, albeit one which holds back from being as nasty as it could have been. Certainly one for aficionados of folk horror, and worthy of 4 stars.
Westall's supernatural fiction is a discovery I'm very pleased to have made - thanks Valancourt for putting out such attractive editions and bringing these tales back into print.
'The Wheatstone Pond' is more in the mould of the tales in Westall's 'Antique Dust'. It lurches into James Herbert territory in the final quarter (think 'The Dark') and doesn't make the most of its implications, but before then it gives an impressive sense of louring evil and, in the discovery of the model boat with the three tiny skeletons in it, something splendidly horrible. 3.5 stars for this one.
'Yaxley's Cat' is a folk-horror tale which puts a London mum and her two scarily assured children into a 'holiday cottage' that belonged to a cunning man who seems to have disappeared without trace. When the wizard's feline familiar turns up, everything starts to get nasty in a 'Straw Dogs' sort of way, with menacing villagers a-plenty and a posse of sinister old men armed with billhooks. This one is very well paced, has keenly observed local detail (it's set in Cley on the Norfolk coast) and builds to an effective climax, albeit one which holds back from being as nasty as it could have been. Certainly one for aficionados of folk horror, and worthy of 4 stars.
Westall's supernatural fiction is a discovery I'm very pleased to have made - thanks Valancourt for putting out such attractive editions and bringing these tales back into print.
May 8, 2021
"Yaxley’s Cat"
This is a brilliant novella of city folk spending a week of vacation in the wrong part of rural East Anglia.
Rose and her young son and daughter rent old Mr. Yaxley's cottage. Old Yaxley disappeared seven years before after a lifetime as local Cunning Man. His cottage is preserved as he left it, obviously unexpectedly. There's more than one strange book to hand.
Interactions with local people are fraught, and menace increases with each day. At first it is class resentment, the situation quickly deteriorates.
To say nothing of the cat!
* * *
"Blackham’s Wimpey" is a carefully earned imagining of Wellington bomber crews terror-bombing German cities in the early 1940s. It has a large cast of characters and a grimly serious topos, though not one cribbed from films like "12 O'clock High" or "One of Our Aircraft is Missing." It is free of preachy why-we-fight propaganda and woke all-war-is-pointless beats out of "Blackadder" and the fiction of Michael Morpurgo. Westall excels with a circumspect use of first-person narration here, and a superior sling-shot ending that safely skirts the temptation to bathos.
This is a brilliant novella of city folk spending a week of vacation in the wrong part of rural East Anglia.
Rose and her young son and daughter rent old Mr. Yaxley's cottage. Old Yaxley disappeared seven years before after a lifetime as local Cunning Man. His cottage is preserved as he left it, obviously unexpectedly. There's more than one strange book to hand.
Interactions with local people are fraught, and menace increases with each day. At first it is class resentment, the situation quickly deteriorates.
To say nothing of the cat!
* * *
"Blackham’s Wimpey" is a carefully earned imagining of Wellington bomber crews terror-bombing German cities in the early 1940s. It has a large cast of characters and a grimly serious topos, though not one cribbed from films like "12 O'clock High" or "One of Our Aircraft is Missing." It is free of preachy why-we-fight propaganda and woke all-war-is-pointless beats out of "Blackadder" and the fiction of Michael Morpurgo. Westall excels with a circumspect use of first-person narration here, and a superior sling-shot ending that safely skirts the temptation to bathos.
Read
January 24, 2025Allegedly a collection of novellas, a word regular readers will know has become a bugbear of mine. Back when words retained more connection to things, two of them, The Wheatstone Pond and Yaxley's Cat, were released as children's novels, and I've reviewed them accordingly on here. That leaves Blackham's Wimpey, which just scrapes over the line from being a long short story, and which I read as September was dawning. It's absolutely brilliant, the story of a Wellington bomber crew whose life of fire, fear and vomit (so much more vomit than war stories usually admit) should probably have qualified as a horror story even before they end up with a haunted aircraft.
August 31, 2020
This was a fun collection that I picked up because a) Valancourt only reprints awesome in my experience and b) someone online recommended Yaxley's Cat as folk horror lite.
Blackham's Wimpey is probably the punchiest narrative of the three but I really enjoyed all of them in their own specific way. The slow burn of the Wheatstone Pond and the creeping dread in Wallney were all well-written and fun if not terribly scary.
Blackham's Wimpey is probably the punchiest narrative of the three but I really enjoyed all of them in their own specific way. The slow burn of the Wheatstone Pond and the creeping dread in Wallney were all well-written and fun if not terribly scary.
March 9, 2018
Blackham’s Wimpey is phenomenal. The others are... stories.
October 20, 2018
A good read for the Halloween Season.
November 16, 2021
✭✭✭½
“Blackham’s Wimpey” (1982) ✭✭✭½
“The Wheatstone Pond” (1993) ✭✭✭½
“Yaxley’s Cat” (1991) ✭✭✭
“Blackham’s Wimpey” (1982) ✭✭✭½
“The Wheatstone Pond” (1993) ✭✭✭½
“Yaxley’s Cat” (1991) ✭✭✭
December 14, 2025
Blackham’s Wimpey ~ ★★★★
The Wheatstone Pond ~ ★★★★
Yaxley’s Cat ~ ★★★★
The Wheatstone Pond ~ ★★★★
Yaxley’s Cat ~ ★★★★
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews